Freedom Flix

Game of T̶h̶r̶o̶n̶e̶s̶ [Food Trucks]: Chicago's Mobile Vendors in an Epic Food Fight

Should the city of Chicago be in the business of protecting a few politically connected restaurateurs from competition?

That is the question to be answered by a major lawsuit filed Wednesday, November 14, 2012, in Cook County Circuit Court by the Institute for Justice (IJ)—a national public interest law firm—and three Chicago-area food truck entrepreneurs.

Cities nationwide are experiencing the benefits of food trucks. But for years Chicago had not embraced that movement. For example, Chicago did not allow cooking on food trucks and it told food truck entrepreneurs that they must stay more than 200 feet from brick-and-mortar restaurants. So in June 2012, when the city announced it would be revising its vending laws, food fans were excited.

The law that passed in July, however, continues to make it illegal for food trucks to operate within 200 feet of any fixed business that serves food. The fines for violating the 200-foot rule are up to $2,000—ten times higher than for parking in front of a fire hydrant. Further, the city is forcing food trucks to install GPS tracking devices that broadcast the trucks’ every move. According to the Chicago Tribune, “the ordinance doesn't serve the needs of the lunch-seeking public. It benefits the brick-and-mortar eateries, whose owners don't want the competition.”

The Institute for Justice is the nation’s leading legal advocate for the rights of entrepreneurs. For more on the lawsuit, visit www.ij.org/vending.

Freedom Flix

The Institute for Justice is always looking for new ways to promote the message of freedom. To that end, IJ produced the following videos in-house to tell the stories of our clients and their fight for individual liberty.

None of this — the cases or these videos — would be possible without the continued generosity of our donors. We hope you enjoy them and share them with those who need a little inspiration.

Streets of Dreams: Challenging Atlanta's Street Vending Monopoly (4:15)Larry Miller and Stanley Hambrick are street vendors in Atlanta. But two years ago, Atlanta handed over all public-property vending to a single company that wants to throw Larry and Stanley out of the spots they have worked for decades to build kiosks.

Unraveling Unconstitutional Government Regulation in Arizona (3:30)The Arizona Board of Cosmetology is now requiring skilled threaders to obtain an aesthetician license, which requires at least 600 hours of classroom instruction—not one hour of which teaches or tests threading—and that can cost over $10,000. But threade

Freeing Small Farms: Minnesota Farms Fight Protectionism (2:48)Farmers should not be threatened with 90 days in jail and $1,000 in fines for selling pumpkins or Christmas trees grown outside city limits. Yet that is the law in Lake Elmo, Minn. On December 1, 2009, the Lake Elmo City Council declared that it would beg